Title: Calcutta refugees protest against Dhaka
Author: Subir Bhaumik
Publication: BBC
Date: Nov 20, 2001
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1666000/1666467.stm
Bangladeshi Hindus receive support in Calcutta, India
Nearly 5,000 Bengali Hindus, displaced from Bangladesh over the years, have held a rally in the Indian
city of Calcutta in support of those recently arrived from Bangladesh.
They demanded full security and compensation for their losses in a memorandum submitted to the
Bangladeshi Deputy High Commissioner.
This is the second large rally in front of the Bangladeshi Mission in
Calcutta since refugees started arriving last month.
The rally was sponsored by a non-government refugee welfare organization, the
Bangladesh Udbastu Kalyan Parishad.
The protesters included some of the refugees who have recently arrived
from Bangladesh.
The General Secretary of the NGO, Manilal Biswas, told journalists that
their organization demanded immediate action.
He said they wanted the Bangladeshi Government to stop what he described as atrocities against the
Hindus.
He also said those displaced from that country should be resettled in their
ancestral locations with adequate protection and be compensated for their losses.
The Bangladeshi diplomats requested the refugee leaders to submit a list of refugees who had
come to India.
They said if their bonafides as refugees could be verified, Bangladesh would surely take them
back, as the government was committed to protecting the minorities.